Teens get word out about holiday toy drive

Sunday

Nov 25, 2012 at 10:06 PM

With the holiday season well under way, Dunnellon Fire Department firefighters are ramping up their search for toy donations for their annual Christmas party for needy children, to be held Dec. 13 at the Dunnellon Bingo Parlor.

By Lora E. IdeCorrespondent

DUNNELLON — With the holiday season well under way, Dunnellon Fire Department firefighters are ramping up their search for toy donations for their annual Christmas party for needy children, to be held Dec. 13 at the Dunnellon Bingo Parlor.Two youngsters trying to help them, Karisa Pierce and Destiny Waters, both 13, stood along East Pennsylvania Avenue on a recent Saturday, waving a sign and calling to passersby to stop at a nearby sidewalk sale to make donations for the party.The two friends knew a larger group than ever before had come to the party last year, surprising all the sponsors, including staff members of the fire department."We've been trying to help needy kids for awhile now, and we want more experience doing that. So we went over to the fire department to ask them if we could help. And they told us they would be very happy to have us do anything we could," said Destiny, a Dunnellon Middle School student.Nearby, at Repeat Boutique, a clothing consignment shop owned by Dana Brown, Christina Pierce, Karisa's mother, said her daughter, busy waving a sign a block away, also hopes to help the Dunnellon Police Department raise money for their Cops For Kids program."Dunnellon police officers take donations and go out and shop for some of the families that have been suggested to them sometimes by people from the schools, and sometimes by others who know of needy families," Pierce said.While many people donate toys for younger children, people don't seem to know what to get for youth ages 11 to 13. Books such as "Twilight," "The Hunger Games," "New Wimpy Kid" or the original series of "The Hobbitt" would be good choices, Pierce said."Believe it or not, a lot of these kids are hungry. A gift card to a local restaurant would be really good because if they go to Dunnellon Middle School, these kids can walk to places like Sonic or McDonalds after school," she added.Fire Chief Joe Campfield said the girls knew what they were talking about when they said more needy youngsters are showing up each year for the party, which will begin at 6 p.m. Dec. 13."Last year we had 480 kids show up, and probably 750 to 800 people altogether, with family members who came with the kids. The bingo hall, owned by Frank King, one of the party sponsors, is just big enough for that many people. It was pretty packed last year," Campfield said.The year before last, 280 youngsters showed up for the party, sponsored in part by the Tri-county RC Club.When so many kids showed up last year, Campfield they ran short of gifts for older kids."So I dashed out real fast to Walmart and bought 40 watches. We would never turn a needy child away, and everyone leaves our party with something in his or her hands," he said.And, added Campfield with a laugh, if anyone is free to help wrap Christmas gifts for children at 6 p.m. Dec. 12, the day before the party, the department wants to hear from them.